Adam Driver recounts his first Comic-Con experience with Star Wars: 'It was scary'

If Adam Driver never attends another major comic convention, it'll likely be too soon. During a recent guest spot on The Graham Norton Show, the Kylo Ren actor recalled his harrowing experience at SDCC 2015 several months before the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The long of the short of it is that Driver was told he needed to unwillingly cosplay as a specific character if he wanted to leave his hotel room and roam about freely. 

"I didn't know the rules of a Comic-Con," he explained. "I got in to a hotel at two in the morning and they're like, 'Anything you need?' I'm like, 'No, I'm fine. Maybe tomorrow I'll go get a coffee.' And they're like, 'Oh no, you can't get a coffee.' I'm like, 'Maybe I'll get a coffee in the hotel.' They're like, 'No, you can't get a coffee in the hotel. We have some masks in a bag if you want to put a mask on.' They had an option of an Iron Man mask or a Darth Vader mask. If you wanted to go outside, they were like, 'Just put a mask on, so nobody knows who you are.'"

Vader wasn't too much of a stretch for a guy cast to play the Sith Lord's grandson, but Driver was probably sick of wearing a mask and helmet after the movie's production. As a result the actor was stuck in his room for an entire day and even that wasn't enough to keep the rabid fans at bay. "I opened my window ... and there was band at the bottom of the building, playing the Star Wars theme on repeat because [the cast was] all staying in the [same] hotel. So it was scary."

Driver, who is known for his aversion to publicity and the limelight, found himself surprised by the sheer enthusiasm on display at the Episode VII panel. "You show up and it's 2,000 people who are just very devoted," he said. "It's just a lot of energy as you can imagine ... I'm not anxious to go again."

Watch him tell the story below:

At the end of the day, though, Driver is a devoted fanboy of the galaxy far, far away. "It's a lot to process because I can't believe that I'm still in it," he remarked during an interview with Access Hollywood ahead of The Force Awakens' theatrical debut. "It's visually thrilling. I mean, that's such a hokey thing to say, but it's so true and I was surprised by how emotional it is."